Marc Burrows (15 October 1978 – 9 February 2009) was an English

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

, who played as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

. He grew up in Sandown on the

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight ( ) is a county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the largest and second-most populous island of England. Referred to as 'The Island' by residents, the Isle of ...

and attended Sandham Middle School before heading to

Sandown High School Sandown Bay Academy, formerly Sandown High School, was an academy status secondary school located in Sandown on the Isle of Wight, England. From 2012 to 31 August 2018 it was sponsored by the Academies Enterprise Trust. On 31 August 2018, the a ...

Playing career

After beginning his career on a two-year apprenticeship at

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

, Burrows played for non-league clubs Cowes Sports,

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...

, Brading Town,

Eastleigh Eastleigh is a town in Hampshire, England, between Southampton and Winchester. It is the largest town and the administrative seat of the Borough of Eastleigh, with a population of 24,011 at the 2011 census. The town lies on the River Itchen, o ...

and West Moors. His playing career included appearances in the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

FA Vase The Football Association Challenge Vase, usually referred to as the FA Vase, is an annual football competition for teams playing in Steps 5 and 6 of the English National League System (or equivalently, tier 9 or 10 of the overall English footbal ...

and was part of the Eastleigh Social Club squad that played in the

Carlsberg Carlsberg may refer to: Places * Carlsberg (district), a district in Copenhagen, Denmark ** Carlsberg station, its train station * Carlsberg, Germany, a municipality in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany * Carlsberg Fjord, Greenland Other uses * Carlsbe ...

Pub Cup Final, held on 6 May 2000 at the old

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...

. Burrows is recognised as scoring the sport's fastest ever goal, beating both the former English record of

Colin Cowperthwaite Colin Cowperthwaite (born 16 April 1959) is an English former semi-professional footballer. He is best known as the overall top scorer and record appearance holder for Barrow, a club he played for from December 1977 till December 1992, where he ...

(3.5 seconds) and the world record held by

Ricardo Oliveira Ricardo José Dognella Lima de Oliveira (; born 6 May 1980) is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a striker for Athletic. He represented São Paulo and Santos in two different spells, but also played in Spain, amassing La Liga ...

(2.8 seconds). The record was set in a reserve team match against

in 2004, when Burrows spotted the goalkeeper off his line and shot straight from kick-off. With the wind behind it the ball landed in the goal, and was recorded by the match referee at 2.5 seconds.

The Football Association The Football Association (also known as The FA) is the Sports governing body, governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Bailiwick of Guernsey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the ...

later confirmed this goal was a world record for the sport.

Death

Burrows died on 9 February 2009, aged 30, after being diagnosed with cancer.

References

1978 births 2009 deaths People from Sandown English footballers Association football forwards Cowes Sports F.C. players Christchurch F.C. players Brading Town F.C. players Eastleigh F.C. players Deaths from cancer in England {{England-footy-forward-1970s-stub

Playing career

Death

See also

References